By Jodi Bash Have you ever taken a really long road trip? The kind that takes days to get where you’re going? It’s not as common anymore with cheap, safe air travel. I love the road trip personally – no time constraints, no restrictions on shampoo bottle size, no turbulence! Read more…
Genealogy is an exciting adventure into a unique past — that of your very own family. It’s full of twists and turns, validation and insight. What could be better? But family history research is, unfortunately, also full of pitfalls. Pitfalls that can hinder or derail your research if you don’t Read more…
The 1940 census of the United States is a particularly exciting one for genealogy research for a number of reasons — the most obvious being that is was only indexed and released for public consumption a few years ago. The new records gave many of us a special chance to add Read more…
One of the most important things a family historian can do is get organized. It makes research easier in the short term, and you’ll thank yourself repeatedly for it in the future. Many genealogists, including myself, use Evernote — which has both an excellent online and downloadable system for capturing data Read more…
By Susan Wallin Mosey Is it weird that I have a graveyard kit? How else can you go grave hunting in an organized and well-equipped manner? Mine is stored in a pink bucket with a decal on it. (I’m a very girly grave hunter.) The bucket contains all the stuff Read more…
Thank you to Ann Raymont for this helpful article. Have you seen those genealogy T-shirts that read “I see(k) dead people”? It’s a fact—we family historians do! And nowhere is that more literally true than in a cemetery. Here are five tips to make the most of your next visit. 1. Read more…
Whether family history research is your newest hobby or a lifelong passion — pitfalls are everywhere and sometimes they’re hard to spot. From forgetting to back up your data to limiting your research options, these important dos and don’ts will help you avoid some of the most common issues facing family historians Read more…
Are you lucky enough to have a collection of old photographs of your ancestors? A surprisingly small number of family historians are able to answer “yes” to this question — at least as it concerns ancestors who are more than a couple of generations removed. While most of us are certainly Read more…
If you’re taking the time to gather with family over the holidays, you’ll no doubt be hoping for the opportunity to collect some family history information at the same time. But while we all know how important it is to talk with relatives about our family’s past, may of us feel Read more…
As interest in family history research continues to grow, more and more researchers are taking the time to educate themselves about genealogy best practices so they can grow an accurate family tree. Family historians are understanding the value of doing their own unique research, avoiding copying the trees of others, Read more…